I’m sure many of you are familiar with the movie A Christmas Story. You know that scene where Ralphie wakes up on Christmas Day and looks out the window to find it has snowed over night to create a magical winter wonderland? I always feel that same sense of magic when I wake up to find that it snowed overnight, as I did last Wednesday night (and Thursday night, and Friday night).
This was the view from our bedroom window when I got up on Thursday.
I’m not sure my photo does it justice, it really was magical. It got even better on Friday.
So I thought this might be a great time to bring you a Sunday morning in the garden post, winter version.
Most of the garden vloggers that I watch on YouTube have been talking about adding winter interest to the garden lately. I have to admit that I’ve never really given ‘winter interest’ much thought in the summer when I’m planting.
So most of my winter interest plants are totally coincidental. The many hydrangeas that I’ve planted for their fabulous flowers, also look quite pretty after a snowfall.
Even my dismal failure of a lilac hedge adds some decent winter interest.
Otherwise, most of the ‘interest’ in my winter garden comes from the trees.
Or the garden ornaments.
Things like statues, trellises, and obelisks are a quick and easy way to add interest to the winter garden, although not necessarily the cheapest way.
Another recommendation for adding winter interest is to leave attractive seed heads on plants like echinacea (coneflower), astilbe and bee balm. I have those perennials, but in our climate they pretty much first get battered by a heavy snow, and then buried in it. They work better for autumn interest rather than winter interest here.
We need to rely on sturdier options in Minnesota like evergreens, or shrubs with winter color like winterberries or red twig dogwood. They can stand up to a couple feet of snow. And the red of the winterberries and dogwood look especially amazing in the snow.
But until I get some red things planted, I will have to just admire how the red paint job on the carriage house really pops in a snowy landscape.
How about you? Do you have any recommendations for adding winter interest to a garden? Or perhaps you enjoy living in a perpetually green climate. Leave a comment and let us know!
q is for quandie 
Your sight is truly magical! Being in central Texas, the last time I saw 12 inches of snow I was a child. Of course if was fabulous because I was a kid. Now my mother was not so thrilled. We had a floor furnace so all of our clothes were tented over the heat. No dryer at our house 😳.
Smiles, alice
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Oh my gosh, imagine that? We have radiators which are also handy for both drying things (freshly washed paint brushes, mittens wet with snow) and also for warming things up (mittens before you put them on, and cats).
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Love the red carriage house in the snow. This “batch” of snow was/is fabulous. It’s just beautiful…right up until you have to drive in it! I like how the snow covers all the “junky” stuff in everyone’s yards and it looks fresh and clean. We are lucky to be living in such a beautiful area in Minnesota. ❄️⛄️
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I totally agree!
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Beautiful sight. The “red barn” is awesome. Merry Christmas.
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Thank you Shirley!
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The snow is beautiful in your yard. I love looking at it but don’t miss the cold! ❤️
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Well … the cold is here now. Woke up to precisely zero degrees this morning. Brrrrr….
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So pretty. I love how the world is clean for a few hours. Your house and shed and garden are so photogenic and lovely.
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What has been fabulous this time around is that we keep getting a fresh inch or two of snow every night, so we’ve had that fresh, clean, white snow look for days! I know it won’t last forever, but it sure is pretty for Christmas 🙂
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Lovely pictures. I lived out in the country for a while and loved to take a walk thru the horse pastures after a snowfall – admiring how the snow accented the trees, bushes, fences. So lovely to look at, but not so much driving on it. We might get a white Christmas this year here is southwest Missouri.
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That sounds so picturesque! I bet it was beautiful in those pastures.
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